FreeGulliver LLC Invests $231,000 in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

FreeGulliver LLC purchased a new position in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 11,400 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock, valued at approximately $231,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 2.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 21,155,516 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $432,730,000 after buying an additional 599,045 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 6.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,334,601 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $147,312,000 after buying an additional 422,688 shares in the last quarter. Amundi grew its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 62.9% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 3,752,326 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $75,928,000 after buying an additional 1,449,210 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,097,979 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $62,858,000 after buying an additional 99,405 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vest Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 32.1% in the fourth quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 2,923,399 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $59,316,000 after buying an additional 709,736 shares in the last quarter. 47.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BEN has been the subject of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Franklin Resources from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $21.00 to $22.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $20.86.

Franklin Resources Stock Up 0.3 %

BEN opened at $19.87 on Wednesday. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $18.83 and a fifty-two week high of $28.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a current ratio of 1.66. The company has a market capitalization of $10.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.42. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $20.08 and a 200-day moving average of $20.56.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The closed-end fund reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.03. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 9.45% and a net margin of 4.32%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.65 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 EPS for the current year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.44%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 196.92%.

Franklin Resources Profile

Franklin Resources, Inc is a publicly owned asset management holding company. Through its subsidiaries, the firm provides its services to individuals, institutions, pension plans, trusts, and partnerships. It launches equity, fixed income, balanced, and multi-asset mutual funds through its subsidiaries.